


meeting again for the first time

by onthighsbelongtotaemin



Series: cripple punk [2]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Disability, Disabled Character, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Physical Disability, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 03:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8828914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onthighsbelongtotaemin/pseuds/onthighsbelongtotaemin
Summary: taeyeon meets the man the boy she had loved has become





	

taeyeon hears minho’s deep laugh even before the elevator reaches her floor.  she pulls the metal gate open & struggles with the leaden door behind it, propping her cane out in the carpeted hallway & using it as leverage to step out of the elevator.  the door thuds behind her as she makes her way to her apartment.  minho has an enormous cardboard box in his hands & he’s talking to someone down the hallway that runs perpendicular to where taeyeon is, the apartments that sit directly across from her own but further down their own hallway.  he sees her & his eyes light up & his deep voice booms out a cheery “hey! haven’t seen you in a while.” she’d been on a trip with gwiboon last week & even though she’s been back for three days they just haven’t run into each other, though she’d texted him on arrival.

he leans down & she kisses his cheek, her hand on his chest for a bit of balance.  her own hands are empty, save for the keys she pulls out of her jacket pocket, her purse slung across her chest.

“new neighbor?”, she asks, tilting her head towards the apartment door that’s propped open.

“yeah.  i think you’ll like him.  lots of books, no instruments.”  taeyeon rolls her eyes because she’d actually liked junghee.  it was just…her hours were so odd & she really liked music. a lot.  she’d moved in with minho about a month back & the noise had been even worse as management got the unit ready for the next tenant.  a quiet neighbor sounded nice.

“any pets?”

“no.”  minho grimaced slightly at the question.  roo was a great dog but she shed more than minho was comfortable with, though she’d caught him more than once taking her out on walks & talking to her like she was his baby.  “you should come over & say hi.”

“i will, later.  it was a tough one today.”  he nodded & gave her a little wave as she unlocked her door & stepped into her apartment.  it was dark & she was grateful because everything had been a bit “too much” during her ride to & from the doctor, & during the appointment itself. physical therapy is no fun for anyone & taeyeon especially hated it.  though the heated pool was nice.  getting out, though, wasn’t.

she propped her cane up against the headboard as she slipped beneath the covers, not bothering to change out of her “real” clothes into something softer, less constricting.  the pain was a little too much today, she had barely made it into the building, & opening the elevator door had sapped the last of her strength.  the blackout curtains were an excellent investment & today was one of many where she was glad she had listened to junghee & bought them.  the dark, cool room with the electric blanket turned to low was just what she needed right now.

a familiar knock on the door woke her up & she grabbed her cane to make her way to the door.  minho laughed with apologetic eyes when he saw her blinking face & mussed hair.

“sorry, i didn’t realize you were sleeping.  junghee & i are taking the newbie to go get a bite to eat & i thought you might want to join us.”

“are you setting me up on a date?”  he laughed & she smiled because that’s probably exactly what junghee was doing.

“it’s quite possible that that was part of the plan.  if you’re having a bad day, though, we could bring you back something & we could eat at our place.  or we could just do it another time.”  taeyeon did a quick self-eval, trying to decide just how much energy she had now that she’d had a good rest.  her appointment had taken a lot out of her but she’d started the day off well, & the nap had definitely helped.  but going out…

“your place sounds good.  just text me when you get back & i’ll meet you up there.”

“sounds good.”  he nodded & she shut the door behind him, turning & heading to the bathroom to get a pain pill & put on a heat patch.  she grimaced when she saw her face, the faint red marks from her pillow & her hair scrunched up on one side.  definitely not the first impression she wanted to make on the guy who’d be living across the hall from her for the next year.

brushed teeth, combed hair, fixed make-up, & she was nearly ready to go.  her clothes were still fine & she didn’t want to waste what energy she had left on changing.  she laid down on the couch, not trusting herself to not fall asleep again if she went back to her bed, phone in hand & waited for minho’s message. junghee’s came first, telling her to “get up here, i’m bored” & she laughed as she grabbed her cane & slipped into a pair of flip-flops, her ankles still sore from the shoes she’d worn earlier that day.

the elevator glared at her with its heavy doors & she debated whether they or the one flight of stairs would be the higher energy sap.  she texted junghee to come take the elevator down to get her, saving her from both bad options.  she leaned up against the wall & waited, smiling at the clicks & whirr as the elevator made it down to her & junghee’s face popped out, holding the gate & the door open for her.

“thanks.”, she said as she stepped in.

“no problem.”  the doors slammed shut & soon she was sat on junghee & minho’s sofa, roo licking at her palm.  

“have you met him yet?  the new guy?”  

“yes, actually.”, junghee said as she started a pulling plates & glasses out of the cupboards in the kitchen.  “he’s pretty cute.  and really polite.”

“anything else?  what does he do?  how old is he?”  junghee’s laugh echoed off the wall as she poked her head out of the kitchen doorway.

“he’s an architect & i didn’t ask his age but he looks about my age, maybe a little younger.  you can ask him yourself when he gets back.  which,” she paused as both their phones vibrated, “should be in about five minutes.”

taeyeon took a deep breath as she waited for the door to open & to meet this stranger.  she wasn’t shy exactly, but meeting new people wasn’t really as exciting for her as it was for her friends.  but she had been isolating recently & it would be nice to meet someone new, especially if they were going to be such close neighbors.  besides, minho would undoubtedly be bringing him around & they would have met eventually.  this way she was in familiar ground with friends & there was food.

deep laughs grew progressively louder from the hallway, bursting into the quiet of the apartment as minho opened the door, his head turned in amusement. taeyeon’s heart skipped as the guy behind him appeared in the doorway, wearing a ball cap & hoodie, jeans & sneakers.  the men kicked their shoes off & minho took the food into the kitchen where his murmured voice blended with junghee’s.

the guy looked at her, a smile on his lips that slowly died away into confusion, one that she shared.  because she knew him already, or at least had.  it had been what…ten years?  a decade.  an entire decade.

“taeyeon?”

“hey jinki.”  neither of them move & for a moment, the most perfect moment, it’s just her & jinki, her & the boy she had loved when she was a child & hadn’t understood what her feelings meant.  the boy who had been her first kiss & she his, wrapped in his jacket as they hid from the rain.  the boy who had kissed her head when he went away to college & didn’t promise to keep in touch because it wasn’t a promise he could keep.  the boy she lost because they’d both found someone else.  

god he looked good, better even than she remembered.

“well don’t just stand there.” she said, patting the seat beside her. “come tell me how you’ve been.”  a nervous smile quirked at his lips before it bloomed into the dazzling one she remembered from high school.  he sat down beside her & laughed.

~

it’s been six weeks which may have seemed like a long time when they were kids but they’re adults now & they know it isn’t.  she just feels so comfortable with jinki, so happy. she’s even let him see her apartment, the dark curtains & the rolling table she keeps by her bed.  he’s even seen her collection of canes & pills, the medicine cabinet packed to the brim with reminders that taeyeon is not healthy.  he asks questions occasionally & listens intently when she answers, clarifying when he doesn’t understand a term she’s used.  it was tricky at first but he doesn’t baby her anymore.  he clearly didn’t know what he was supposed to do, if he was supposed to help her or not, but a good punch to the shoulder sent him the message.  

her hand is resting on that shoulder now, the other brushing her fingers through his hair.  he has his head in her lap & he’s telling her about his day, about some project he’s really excited about & that she still doesn’t understand.  the important point, from her perspective, is that he’s happy, that she gets to see him smile & watch as his hands wave through the air as he talks.  his fingers drop to his chest & he’s smiling at her & it’s quiet between them.

“i missed you.”, he says.  

“i missed you too.”  they haven’t really talked about it, about how they had been in love but had drifted apart, about how life is a tangle of moments that can sever bonds & how theirs had been a victim of fate.

“i’m glad i found you again.”

“me too.”  she leans down & kisses him, letting her lips rest there against his, kissing the man the boy she had loved has become.  maybe they could weave a new bond, maybe their lives could entangle again.  she certainly hopes so.  


End file.
